An Oakland mother who allegedly left two of her children in a hot car outside a casino while she gambled was arraigned on two counts of misdemeanor child endangerment on Thursday. According to a police affidavit, the woman outright ignored two police officers who had entered the casino with one of the children in an effort to find her.
Phaley Nget, 37, was deemed a flight risk and ordered held on $100,000 bail.
According to the Contra Costa Times, police were called to the parking lot of Casino 580 in Livermore late Monday afternoon after witnesses noticed the woman’s two children, ages 2 and 3, were left alone in a car outside the casino.
According to a probable cause declaration written by police officer Scott Harrison, two officers entered the casino with the 3-year-old child in an attempt to find the mother. When they located her, she “walked directly past” the officers and “made no attempt to contact them. Nget then ran across the street to where her vehicle was parked.”
The woman initially told police she had entered the casino for five minutes to use the bathroom, but later admitted she had been gambling. Nget had $80 worth of casino chips on her when she was arrested, and surveillance video showed she had been in the casino for at least 26 minutes.
Judge Jacob Blea of the Gale-Schenone Hall of Justice in Pleasonton denied the request of Nget’s attorney to release the woman on her own recognizance. Instead, he set bail at $100,000 due to the “severity of the crime and the fact Nget might flee the area,” according to the Times.
The two children were reportedly uninjured and have since been placed in protective custody.
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